SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 285 - Feb/26/24

Feb/26/24 3:34:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I note that all parties to the government operations and estimates committee have agreed to this motion so we can get to the bottom of the ArriveCAN scandal. Therefore, I ask that the House gives its consent. I move that the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, presented earlier in the day, be concurred in.

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The Speaker

Feb/26/24 3:34:36 p.m.
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Is there consent? Some hon. members: Nay.

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Nay

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:35:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today. The first petition is in support of parents being able to make decisions about their own families without the interference of the federal government. The petitioners call attention to how the Liberal government is trying to involve itself in decisions that should properly be made by parents and by provinces. These petitioners particularly reference the policy in New Brunswick of having parental consent involved in the changing of names and pronouns for students under 16. The petitioners note that, in the vast majority of cases, parents care about the well-being of their children and love them much more than any state-run institutions do. They note that the role of government is to support families and respect parents, not dictate how they should make decisions for their children. The petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to butt out and let parents raise their own children.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:36:23 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-257

Madam Speaker, the next petition is in support of a private member's bill, Bill C-257, which would add political belief and activity as prohibited grounds of discrimination to the Canadian Human Rights Act. The petitioners note that Canadians should be free from political discrimination. This reflects a broad opposition to Canadians facing arbitrary discrimination; protection from political discrimination also ensures that Canadians will be able to express themselves on important issues of the day without fear of employment or other reprisals. Therefore, the petitioners call on the House to support Bill C-257.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:36:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the next petition responds to a government policy that would restrict access to natural health products, which Canadians rely on every day for their health and safety. The petitioners note that Liberals are threatening access to natural health products through new rules that would mean higher cost and fewer products available on the shelf. They note that so-called cost-recovery provisions would impose massive costs on all consumers of natural health products and undermine Canadians' access to these products. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to reverse the changes made in the last Liberal budget regarding natural health products.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:37:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the fourth and final petition that I will be presenting today is regarding the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the PRC. The petitioners draw attention to a decades-long campaign of persecution targeting Falun Gong practitioners and call on the Government of Canada to do more to support Falun Gong practitioners and all those facing persecution, violence and human rights violations within the PRC.

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Mrs. Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:38:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is a crisis of domestic violence and violent crimes right across Canada. These petitioners indicate that it is well established within the House that, when women are pregnant, the risk of violence against women increases. Currently, the injury or death of a preborn child as a victim of crime is not considered an aggravating circumstance for sentencing purposes in our Criminal Code. Canada, they say, is one of the only countries in the world that has no abortion laws; this legal void is so extreme that the House does not recognize preborn children as victims of violent crimes. However, justice requires that an attacker who abuses a pregnant woman and her preborn child must be sentenced accordingly, and the sentence should match the crime. The petitioners are calling on the House of Commons to legislate the abuse of a pregnant woman and/or the infliction of harm on a preborn child as aggravating circumstances for sentencing purposes in the Criminal Code.

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Mrs. Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:39:14 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-210

Madam Speaker, also, individuals are very concerned about sexually explicit and demeaning material, depicting sexual violence, that can easily be accessed on the Internet by people as young as eight, sitting at a computer. A significant proportion of this sexually explicit material is made available for commercial purposes, and it is not protected by any effective age verification method. Anyone who makes sexually explicit material available on the Internet for commercial purposes has a responsibility to ensure that it is not accessed by young persons. Online age verification was a primary recommendation made by stakeholders during a 2017 study by the Standing Committee on Health. The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill S-210, the protecting young persons from exposure to pornography act.

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Mr. Dan Mazier (Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:40:08 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-5

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of constituents. I rise for the 33rd time on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba, to present a petition on the rising rate of crime. The community of Swan River is overwhelmed with alarming levels of crime because of the Liberal government's soft-on-crime laws, such as Bill C-5 and Bill C-75. Jail has become a revolving door for repeat offenders. With Bill C-75, violent offenders could be in jail in the morning and back on the street the same day. With Bill C-5, criminals could serve their sentences from home. The people of Swan River are calling for jail, not bail, for violent repeat offenders. They demand that the Liberal government repeal its soft-on-crime policies, which directly threaten their livelihoods and their community. I support the good people of Swan River.

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Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:41:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-310

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first one is geared towards assisting in the recruitment of volunteer firefighters. It is from undersigned citizens and residents of Canada calling on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-310 and enact amendments to the Income Tax Act, subsections 118.06(2) and 118.07(2), in order to increase the amount of tax credits available for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers from $3,000 to $10,000 per year.

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Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:41:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the second petition I rise on today is from 69 residents of North Okanagan—Shuswap calling on the Government of Canada and the House of Commons to give citizens a voice on the subject of electoral reform and the right to make recommendations and to support Motion No. 86 calling for a citizens' assembly on electoral reform.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Feb/26/24 3:42:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today with a petition of deep concern to residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands, and I dare say of all our ridings across Canada, regarding the crisis of home affordability. The petitioners point out the key problems that have caused the problem. The rise in home costs has to do with the financialization of homes; treating housing as an investment and, worse than that, as a matter of some speculation and gambling; and the use of Canada's housing market to launder money and evade taxes. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to redefine affordable housing, to have an updated formula to better reflect the current economic conditions; to ensure that corporate interests and real estate investment trusts are brought to heel when it comes to excess profiteering; and to require restrictive covenants on affordable housing, which are units built with taxpayer support, to ensure that they are not flipped for personal gain. The petitioners call for a number of very sensible measures to prioritize the funding for non-profit and co-op housing.

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Mr. Andy Fillmore (Halifax, Lib.)

Feb/26/24 3:43:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is my honour to present, in both official languages, a petition signed by the advocates of a basic income guarantee. The petition calls upon the Government of Canada to begin immediate negotiations with the Government of Prince Edward Island to develop and implement a basic income guarantee demonstration program in the province of P.E.I. that would be administered, monitored and evaluated for at least five years. The petitioners note that the 2020 final report of the Special Committee on Poverty in PEI recommended initiating these negotiations. The report has the support of all political parties in P.E.I. The demonstration program would benefit all of Canada, as poverty is the primary social determinant of health and requires bold and creative approaches to understand and address its root causes and consequences in Canada.

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Mr. Michael Cooper (St. Albert—Edmonton, CPC)

Feb/26/24 3:44:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by Canadians. The petitioners observe that, for the past eight years, the Liberal government has consistently put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of victims. This includes when it failed to respond to the Supreme Court's unjust Bissonnette decision. This decision struck down a common-sense Harper law that gave judges the discretion to apply consecutive parole ineligibility periods to murderers convicted of multiple murders, to take into account each life lost. The petitioners call on Parliament, as a modest response to the Bissonnette decision, to pass Bill S-281. This would prevent convicted murderers from applying for parole year after year once they complete their minimum sentence.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

Feb/26/24 3:45:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as members know, one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada is our Indo-Canadian community. Through that, along with the wonderful trade, economic ties and personal ties between Canada and India, there has been an increase in demand for direct flights between Canada and India. I am presenting a petition from many constituents who would like to be able to see a direct flight from Winnipeg to India. At the end of the day, I think it is fairly well established that, through that wonderful relationship between the two countries and the airliners, and the idea of competition, we will hopefully see more direct flights.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Feb/26/24 3:45:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition on behalf of folks across Waterloo Region, who are calling upon the House of Commons to demand an immediate ceasefire in what they call the Israel-Palestine conflict. They also call for Israel to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip and authorize the creation of a humanitarian corridor and emergency humanitarian intervention. They want the House to call for Israel to meet its commitments under the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law. They want the House to call for all measures necessary to protect civilian life, both Israeli and Palestinian, and to help foster a climate conducive to building a lasting peace.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/26/24 3:46:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, if a revised response to Question No. 2064, originally tabled on January 29, 2024, could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/26/24 3:47:17 p.m.
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Is it the pleasure of the House that the aforementioned question be deemed to have been made an order for return and that it be tabled immediately? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Feb/26/24 3:47:31 p.m.
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Question No. 2064—

Questioner: Sameer Zuberi

With regard to Global Affairs Canada’s funding to the West Bank and Gaza: (a) does the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority receive a budget for spending on aid related projects, and, if so, how much is this budget in (i) 2023-24, (ii) 2024-25; (b) what oversight, if any, does Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in Ottawa exercise over the Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority in terms of (i) vetting grantees, (ii) approving projects, (iii) auditing projects; (c) how does GAC ensure that funds are not misappropriated by terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; (d) what are the details of Canada’s “enhanced oversight policies” regarding international aid to the West Bank and Gaza; (e) what are the details of all grants Canada is currently providing to organizations in the West Bank and Gaza, including, for each, the (i) funding recipient organization, (ii) amount, (iii) purpose of the funding or the project description, (iv) local implementing partners; (f) is the government providing funding to World Vision for its work in Gaza via the Humanitarian Coalition, and, if so, how much funding is it providing; and (g) what action is being taken in response to intelligence reports detailing Hamas’ use of Gaza hospitals for terror, including what kind of reviews GAC is taking to examine funding provided to humanitarian organizations that were active in Gaza hospitals?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/26/24 3:47:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

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